Swedish Medical Center

First Hill/Ballard/Cherry Hill/Issaquah/Edmonds Campuses

Swedish was founded in 1910 by Dr. Nils Johanson, a surgeon, and a group of Seattle’s leading Swedish-born businessmen whose abilities and efforts had brought them success in this new land. What started as a 24-bed facility in a converted two-story apartment building evolved into the First Hill Campus, a 697-bed, not-for-profit medical center occupying 25 city blocks.

Swedish has added multiple campus sites and health system affiliations:

• 1992: Swedish merged with the 163-bed Ballard Community Hospital, which became the Ballard Campus.
• July 1, 2000: The 436-bed Providence Seattle Medical Center also became part of the Swedish system to become the Cherry Hill Campus.
• June 23, 2008: Swedish opened a new 11 floor, 84-patient bed Orthopedic Institute on the First Hill campus to provide the full spectrum of orthopedic care.
• Fall of 2010: Swedish and Stevens Hospital in Edmonds partnered to increase access to health care in South Snohomish County and enhance the quality of care and reduce costs in the community to become the Edmonds Campus.
• Fall of 2011: Swedish opened a new full service hospital in Issaquah.
• February 2012: Swedish and Providence Health & Services announced an affiliation to improve health care quality, access and affordability for residents in Western Washington.
• February 2014: Pacific Medical Center (PacMed) announced its intention to enter a secular affiliation with Providence Health & Services.
• August 2014: Group Health identified Swedish as their Seattle-area adult HMO hospital provider with Group Health inpatients receiving their care starting in January 2016.

In addition to general medical and surgical care, Swedish is known as a regional referral center providing treatment in the areas of oncology, cardiac care, high-risk obstetrics, neurosciences, orthopedic surgery and organ transplantation. Swedish also boasts a number of specialty programs, including sleep disorders, pain-management program, and hospice services.

Over the past 100 years Swedish has grown into the Northwest’s largest, most comprehensive health-care facility representing virtually all diagnostic and surgical specialties. Swedish now boasts more than 9,400 employees and a medical staff of almost 2,300 providers among all five campuses. Directed by a volunteer Board of Trustees comprised of business leaders and physician representatives, Swedish enjoys a reputation for quality care that is recognized internationally.